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Marvellous preservation of organic materials at the Neolithic site of La Draga in north-east Iberia include a range of wooden harvesting tools. The authors examine the wood and flint to describe a range of the earliest harvesting techniques and their diverse applications. Keywords: Iberia, Neolithic, sixth-fifth millennia cal BC, agriculture, cereals, harvesting tools, Introduction The first evidence of the Neolithic in north-eastern Iberia appears about the middle of the sixth millennium cal BC. Until that time, the area had been occupied by hunter-gatherer [...]

The Crowfield site, excavated in 1981-82, would be a small typical Early Paleoindian campsite except for the added presence of a plough-truncated pit feature containing 182+ burned and destroyed stone artifacts. This paper reports on the latest insights into the feature contents based on continuing attempts to cross-mend fragments, as well as detailed analyses of the spatial distribution of artifact pieces within the feature itself. These results reinforce earlier conclusions that the items were burned where found, represent a cache of still functional tools and preforms, and were purposefully destroyed. They confirm that the site represents the best evidence to date for sacred ritual by eastern North American fluted point users. Contrasts with other reported early sacred and secular caches are documented that highlight the uniqueness of the assemblage. It is argued that these contrasts indicate the Crowfield feature assemblage more closely approximates a transported, functioning tool kit, as opposed to the surplus, seasonal and insurance gear, or offerings, that dominate other early caches. El sitio de Crowfield, excavado en los anos 1981-82, seria un pequeno y tipico campamento de la etapa Paleoindio Temprano, si no fuera por la presencia de un pozo truncado por el arado con mas de 182 artefactos liticos quemados y destruidos. En este articulo presentamos lo que hemos aprendido de los contenidos del pozo hasta la fecha, gracias a continuos intentos de juntar fragmentos, asi como a analisis detallados de la distribucion espacial de las piezas de artefactos dentro del pozo. Estos andlisis apoyan nuestra conclusion previa de que los implementos fueron quemados donde se encontraron, representan un escondite de implementos y preformas aun utiles, que fueron destruidos intencionalmente. Esto confirma que el sitio representa la unica evidencia definitiva de ritos sagrados entre la gente que usaba las puntas acanaladas en la parte este de America dei Norte. Contrastes con otros escondites tempranos, sagrados y seculares, subrayan la naturaleza unica de este conjunto. Sostenemos que estos contrastes indican que el conjunto del pozo de Crowfield se asemeja mas a un equipo transportado y funcional que a las ofrendas o las materias sobrantes, estacionales o escondidas para seguridad que eran dominantes en otros escondites., In this paper we provide a reassessment of the Crowfield (AfHj-31) Early Paleoindian site, Ontario, focusing on what is called Feature #1 at that site. Excavated in 1981-82, in many [...]

Understanding the decisions made at toolstone procurement localities is critical to understanding lithic production systems. However, lithic assemblages at procurement sites ate typically voluminous, frequently overlapping, and always complex. This paper explores the influence of expected toolstone transport distance on procurement site assemblage variability using a central place theory inspired modelfrom Human Behavioral Ecology. Debitage assemblage diversity, is examined for 43 sites in two procurement contexts with different expected overall transport distances. Twenty-six of these sites are from the Canyonlands region of southeastern Utah where toolstone transport distances are expected to be uniformly short; seventeen sites are from the Black Rock desert region of west-central Utah where transport distances are expected to be longer. Observed differences in debitage assemblage diversity from each procurement context are consistent with expectations derived from the model which suggests that procurement site assemblage variability is predictably affected by expected toolstone transport distance. Entender las decisiones tomadas en las localidades de obtencion de herramientas de piedra es critico para el entendimiento de los sistemas de produccion lirica. Sin embargo, los ensambles de Iitica en los lugares de obtencion son tipicamente voluminosos. frecuentemente se traslapan y siempre son complejos. Este articulo explora la influencia de la distancia esperada de transporte de herramientas de piedra en la variabilidad de los sitios de obtencion, utilizando un modelo de la teoria de lugar central inspirado de La Ecologia del Comportamiento Humano. La diversidad del ensamble de desperdicios es examinada en 43 lugares en dos contextos de obtencion con diferentes distancias de tran,sportacion general esperada. Veintiseis de estos lugares son de la region de Canyonlands al Smeste de Utah, donde las distancias de transporte de herramientas de piedra se espera que sean generalmemente cortas, diecisiete lugares son de Black Rock, region desertica del centro-oeste de Utah, donde las distancias de transporte se esperan mas largas. Diferencias observadas en la diversidad de ensambladura de desperdicios de cada contexto de obtencion son consistentes con las expectativas derivadas del modelo, el cual sugiere que la variabilidad de ensambles en los lugares de obtencion es afectada como era de esperarse por la distancia de transporte de las herramientas de piedra., Lithicassemblages at toolstone procurement sites are often characterized by, a shattered, overlapping, sometimes shallow, nondiagnostic, undatable, unattractive, redundant, and at times voluminous material record' (Ericson 1984:2). In spite of these [...]

Signs of nonalimentary tooth use were observed on the dentition of an adult male from a single burial excavated in an area close to the Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter (Tadrart Acacus, Libya), dated to more than 7800 uncalibrated years BP, that represents the most ancient human remain found in the Libyan Sahara, and provides a first glimpse of human adaptation in the early Holocene of this region. The wear pattern shows large grooves running across the occlusal surfaces of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth and premolars. The results of macroscopic and microscopic observation, together with scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination and experimental tests, suggest that the microdamage might be due to repeated friction of vegetal fibers, probably as a consequence of basket making, net production, or mat processing. Further data are needed to allow us to distinguish among plant-oriented activities related to food acquisition (e.g., rope and net processing), food storage (e.g., basket making), or domestic handicraft (e.g., mat processing), whose implications may generate different interpretations of sexual division of labor. KEY WORDS dental microwear; tooth-tool use; Early Holocene; Sahara; Libya

Zooarchaeologists utilize a diverse set of approaches for quantifying cutmark frequencies. The least quantitative method for cutmark analysis relies on composite diagrams of cutmarks overlain on drawings of skeletal elements (diagramatic methods). To date, interpretations of these data have generally relied on qualitative and subjective assessments of cutmark frequency and placement. Many analysts count the number of fragments that have a cutmark, regardless of the number of cutmarks on the fragments (fragment-count data). Others count the number of cutmarks (cutmark-count data). Both can be expressed as simple counts (NISP data), of as a count of some more-derived measure of skeletal element abundance (MNE data). All of these approaches provide different types of data and are not intercomparable. Several researchers have shown that fragmentation of specimens impacts the frequency of cuts, and we show here that fragmentation impacts all these current approaches in ways that compromise comparative analysis when fragmentation differs between assemblages. We argue that cutmark frequencies from assemblages with differing levels of fragmentation are most effectively made comparable by correcting the frequency of cutmarks by the observed surface area. We present a new method that allows this surface area correction by using the image analysis abilities of GIS. This approach overcomes the fragmentation problem. We illustrate the power of this technique by comparing a highly fragmented archaeological assemblage to an unfragmented experimental collection. Los zooarqueologos utilizan diversos metodos para cuantificar la frecuencia de huellas de corte. El metodo menos cuantitativo para el analisis de huellas de corte utiliza diagramas compuestos de este tipo de huellas que se sobreponen a dibujos de elementos esqueleticos (metodo diagramatico). Hasta el dia de hoy, la interpretacion de estas observaciones se ha basado en evaluaciones cualitativas y subjetivas de la frecuencia y posicion de huellas de corte. Muchos investigadores cuentan el numero de fragmentos oseos con huellas de corte, sin considerar el numero de huellas en los mismos fragmentos (metodo de conteo de fragmentos). Otros investigadores cuentan simplemente el numero de huellas de corte (metodo de conteo de huellas de corte). Ambos se pueden expresar ya sea como cuantificacion simple (datos de NISP). O como una medida derivada de abundancia de elementos oseos (datos de MNE). Todos estos metodos ofrecen distintos tipos de observaciones, los cuales nos son comparables entre si. Varios investigadores han mostrado que la fragmentacion osea afecta la frecuencia de huellas de corte. Nosotros mostramos en este articulo que la fragmentacion osea influye notablemente en todos los metodos usados hasta el momento, y que, debido a ello, se arriesgan los analisis comparativos cuando el grado de fragmentacion osea es distinto entre las colecciones a comparar. Proponemos que cuando el grado de fragmentacion osea varia entre las colecciones, la frecuencia de huellas de corte podria ser comparada en forma mas efectiva al corregir la referida frecuencia con la medida del area de la superficie observada. Nosotros presentamos un metodo nuevo que permite estandarizar la frecuencia de huellas de corte por area de superficie a traves del uso de analisis de imagen con GIS. Este metodo supera el problema de la, fragmentacion osea. Aqui mostramos su potencial al comparar una coleccion osea altamente fragmentada con otra coleccion experimental no fragmentada., The analysis of cutmarks on skeletal elements is a standard research endeavor in zooarchaeology and has been used to address a variety of topics. Generally, studies of cutmarks have been […]

Changes in the morphology and patterns of elaboration of bone and antler artifacts are used to elucidate patterns of behavioral change in the Upper Paleolithic in Cantabrian Spain. Results from analyses of the organic artifact industries of Cantabrian industrial complexes indicate that in addition to the major behavioral shift at the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, important changes in human behavior began during the Sotutrean and were fully established by the Lower Magdalenian. The appearances of these changes were temporally staggered and are clearest when compared to an Early Upper Paleolithic pattern of behavior. This research demonstrates that information about behavioral change can be recovered using an approach that examines artifact attributes that are different from those typically studied for organic artifact industries. Ultimately, this research relates to theories of behavioral transitions and the development of modern human behavior within the Upper Paleolithic.

Lokalalei 2C archaeological site yielded almost 3,000 archaeological finds. some 60 sets of complementary matching stone artefacts were reconstituted. The refits, predated the Koobil Fora refits by 500 Kyr, and are the oldest ever studied. The core reduction sequences are analyzed, based on the refits, enabling accuracy in the understanding of flake production processes. A greater cognitive capacity and motor skill for early hominids is thus demonstrated.

Stone, and particularly stone which can be used in the manufacture of flaked stone artefacts, is not uniformly distributed over the face of the earth. Users of stone tools have [...]

Excavations of Hopewell tombs in the Trempealeau-La Crosse locality of the Upper Mississippi River recovered numerous large 'ceremonial' bifaces. Most are manufactured of exotic lithic materials, including Knife River flint and obsidian from the Plains/Rocky Mountains. Several speckled 'jasper' and gray 'quartzite' bi faces are attributed to Madison Formation dendritic chert and siliceous sediments from the eastern Wyoming/Black Hills area. In addition, X-ray diffraction analysis of red Hopewell platform pipes from Wisconsin sites determined these to be made of Minnesota catlinite. These artifacts enhance models of Northern Plains participation in the Hopewell Interaction Sphere via overland transport to frontier Hopewell populations along the Upper Mississippi. Keywords: Hopewell; Besant; Sonota; lithics; exchange

Patterns of social interaction among hunter-gatherers during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in North America have received considerable attention in recent archaeological studies. One hypothesis is that territory size decreased as band packing increased when bands, particularly those occupying favored environments, fissioned and multiplied and target game animals changed. One result of this process should be archaeological evidence of intensified interaction among neighboring bands. We investigate this model through the identification and analysis of ceremonial exchange of a specific artifact - the large Sloan type spear point - found in Dalton contexts in the CentraI Mississippi Valley. Our findings support the contention that alliance networks were established at this time (10,500-10,000 BP) in order to mitigate the effects of resource risk and potential interband discord. Keywords: ceremonial exchange, Dalton horizon, hunter-gatherers, Sloan points, Central Mississippi Valley prehistory

Recent studies of Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages have focused on questions of interest to lithic analysts everywhere, including the effect of raw material availability, occupation span, and tool maintenance on assemblage characteristics. In this paper, we add to the growing database on Middle Paleolithic assemblages using material recently excavated at Combe-Capelle Bas in the Dordogne region of southern France. The site provides a unique opportunity for addressing questions concerning lithic assemblage variability because it is located on a high quality flint source. We present data on core reduction, blank selection, raw material procurement, and lithic transport that provide information on lithic use pertinent for both Old World and New World archaeologists. Our data show that raw material availability and group mobility influenced blank selection, production, and transport at Combe-Capelle., Over the past 10 years, research into the nature and meaning of Middle Paleolithic assemblage variability has begun to move beyond the 'Bordes-Binford,' or cultural-functional, debate that has been a [...]

The Medicine Creek sequence of Frontier County, NE, is characterized by the abundant presence of deeply buried Paleoindian sites through Woodland ceramic sites, Upper Republican villages and late prehistoric Dismal River sites. Sites and materials located in the areas have been of particular interest in the Central Plains. Extensive excavation programs have been conducted to enable archaeologists to discover and study such artifacts more extensively.

Archaeologists should adopt the standard terminology of materials science for classifying fracture types observed on projectile points. The fracture patterns are similar whether the points are used with a bow, atlatl or thrust by hand. Abrasive and fatigue wear are the two basic types of impact damage. Abrasive wear types include linear polishes, striations, and rounding and dulling of surfaces and edges. Fatigue wear types include longitudinal macrofracture, lateral macrofracture, distal or transverse fracture, spin-off fractures, and crushing, comminution or multiple step fractures.

This study asks whether there are discernable links between precision gripping, tool behaviors, and hand morphology in modern hominoids, which may guide functional interpretation of early hominid hand morphology. Findings from a three-pronged investigation answer this question in the affirmative, as follows. (1) Experimental manufacture of early prehistoric tools provides evidence of connections between distinctive human precision grips and effective tool making. (A connection is not found between the 'fine' thumb/index finger pad precision grip and early tool making.) (2) Manipulative behavior studies of chimpanzees, hamadryas baboons, and humans show that human precision grips are distinguished by the greater force with which objects may be secured by the thumb and fingers of one hand (precision pinching) and the ability to adjust the orientation of gripped objects through movements at joints distal to the wrist (precision handling). (3) Morphological studies reveal eight features distinctive of modern humans which facilitate use of these grips. Among these features are substantially larger moment arms for intrinsic muscles that stabilize the proximal thumb joints. Examination of evidence for these reveals that three of the eight features occur in Australopithecus afarensis, but limited thumb mobility would have compromised tool making. Also, Olduvai hand morphology strongly suggests a capacity for stone tool making. However, functional and behavioral implications of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans hand morphology are less clear. At present, no single skeletal feature can be safely relied upon as an indicator of distinctively human capabilities for precision gripping or tool making in fossil hominids. Am J Phys Anthropol 102:91-110, 1997. KEY WORDS hand; morphology; tool use; tool making; manipulation; fossil hominids; chimpanzees

A combined study of the spatial distribution, structural characteristics and wear patterns of stone projectile points found at a Late Paleolithic campsite in Rekem, Belgium enables observations about certain behaviors surrounding prehistoric hunting activities. Discrete sites for weapons-point manufacture, repair and disposal were located within the camp. Structural examination led to a correlation between point width and function. Study of point wear and damage indicated that archery was the predominant hunting technology used by site inhabitants and even enabled a reconstruction of arrow shafts and fastening methods.

Analysis of organic residue on 55 stone tools from Hinds Cave near the Pecos River in southwestern Texas indicates that the chert flake tools were used to process mostly local succulents and rodents. Residue analysis, edge-angle and use-wear studies confirm earlier research that most tools from this site are multipurpose cutting and slicing implements rather than specialized choppers and scrapers. A majority of tools showed polishing as evidence of wear. The study demonstrates how useful organic residue analysis can be in interpreting the function and use of prehistoric stone tools.

Prehistoric Native Americans in the southwest US used stone tools to grind grain. Archeological deposits at Antelope Hill Quarry in Arizona and other sites show the process of how aboriginal groups selected and worked metates and pestles to process grains and other substances. The style of these implements is similar to prehistoric milling tools found all over the world.

In a recent paper Nick Ashton and I argued that there was a small number of bifaces that could be provenanced to traditionally non-biface Clactonian deposits at two of the [...]

Burins should be considered products of a manufacturing technique used in the Upper Paleolithic, not a specific class of stone tools. Evidence from three late Pleistocene sites in Southwest ASia suggests that burination was a means for removing mass and modifying edges from blades and flakes. Implications for the study of lithic remains from the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic are dsicussed.

Three archaeological sites at Katanda on the Upper Semliki River in the Western Rift Valley of Zaire have provided evidence for a well-developed bone industry in a Middle Stone Age context. Artifacts include both barbed and unbarbed points as well as a daggerlike object. Dating by both direct and indirect means indicate an age of ~90,000 years or older. Together with abundant fish (primarily catfish) remains, the bone technology indicates that a complex subsistence specialization had developed in Africa by this time. The level of behavioral competence required is consistent with that of upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens. These data support an African origin of behaviorally as well as biologically modern humans., Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) appeared in Africa and the Levant before 90,000 years ago (ka)[1]. By 50 ka, they had colonized Australia[2] and possibly east Asia[3]. In the [...]

Current models of ground-stone design, which relate tool morphology and size to subsistence economies, are based on assumptions of energy efficiency and processing constraints of the foodstuffs being ground. These models do not consider the impact of raw-material scarcity on ground-stone technologies. This impact is investigated here using an assemblage from the Classic-period Hohokam site of Pueblo Grande, Arizona. The current model of ground-stone design is modified to account for raw-material scarcity. Specifically, it is demonstrated that raw-material scarcity affects ground-stone manufacture, use, and discard patterns. It is argued here that studies using ground-stone assemblages to reconstruct subsistence economies must take these factors into consideration in areas where raw-material scarcity occurs., Ground-stone artifacts constitute a broad class of formal tools with relatively long use lives in the lithic technology of many societies, both modern and prehistoric. These tools are used predominately [...]

Although several Plio-Pleistocene hominids are found in association with stone and bone tools, it has been generally assumed that at any one time the hominid with the largest brain was the toolmaker. Fossils recovered over the last decade suggest that early hominids subsequent to 2.5 million years ago all might have used tools and occupied 'cultural' niches. A test for humanlike precision grasping (the enhanced ability to manipulate tools) is proposed and applied to australopithecines and early Homo. The results indicate that tools were likely to have been used by all early hominids at around 2.0 million years ago. The earliest australopithecines, which predate the appearance of stone tools in the archaeological record, do not show signs of advanced precision grasping., Approximately 2 million years ago (Ma) Africa was home to at least two, and probably more, hominid species (1). At least one, but perhaps all, early hominids at this time [...]

Lisa Young and Steadman Upham use similar flawed strategies to interpret the data from the Homol'ovi region, overlooking the inherent problems of a normative approach. They ignore the possibility that causes other than the ones they postulate could lead to the results they observe. Young's 'logistic mobility' and related concepts do not account for all the variability seen in the tool assemblages she analyzes.

Steadman Upham's suggestion that sedentary and mobile strategies may have overlapped in the American Southwest rather than being strictly sequential is generally valuable but somewhat simplistic. Rather than the two states that he posited, societies probably pursued a range of strategies that included those two extremes. An examination of lithic technology from the Homol'ovi area both supports this hypothesis and suggests further avenues for research.

Ground-stone tools and hunter-gatherer subsistence in late Pleistocene southwest Asia are examined i of ethnographic and experimental data on processing methods essential for consumption of various pla In general, grinding and pounding appear to be labor-intensive processing methods. In particular, th required to make wild cereals edible has been widely underestimated, and wild cereals were unlikely 'attractive' to foragers except under stress conditions. Levantine ground-stone tools were probably processing diverse plants. The earliest occurrence of deep mortars coincides with the glacial maximu reoccupations, the onset of increasingly territorial foraging, and the earliest presently known sign of wild cereals. Two major episodes of intensification in plant-food processing can he identified in coinciding respectively with the earliest evidence for sedentism (12,800-11,500 B.P.) and the transi (11,500-9600B.P.). The latter episode was characterized by rising frequencies of grinding tools rela tools, and suggests attempts to maximize nutritional returns of plants harvested from the limited te characteristic of sedentary foraging and early farming. This episode was probably encouraged by the Dryas, when density and storability of foods may have outweighed considerations of processing costs., Las herramientas de moler y la subsistencia de cazadores-recolectores en el Pleistoceno tardio del asiatico se examinan bajo la luz de datos etnogroficos y experimentales sobre los metodos de procesa [...]

A series of experiments making and using bone and antler tools show that functional identifications tools can be made with confidence in some circumstances. Using principles from the field of tribolog demonstrate that different uses leave different microscopic traces on bone and antler. They also sho when the materials used are similar, the wear produced will be similar. In particular, wet materials snow, ice, wet hide, and wet antler all produce nearly identical microscopic patterns. Other groups materials, such as bone, antler, and wood, or fish scales and hair, present the same problem. Althou can be detected, these may not he preserved on archaeological tool specimens. Application of the exp results to bone and antler tools from the Mackenzie Delta illustrates that functional identification he made with confidence, despite the problem of similar microscopic patterns, when other lines of ev (ethnographic and historical accounts, distribution of wear) are taken into account. When such infor lacking, functional identifications are more difficult and must be made with more caution., Una serie de experimentos sobre manufactura y uso de herramientas de hueso y cuerno indican que id funcionales de estas herramientas son confiables en ciertas circunstancias. Usando principios del ca [...]

Although true blade technologies were virtually unknown throughout the entire Archaic period of the American Midwest, they blossomed briefly during the Middle Woodland, but died out and were absent again during the rest of prehistory. Despite their temporal specificity, we have no idea why this technology developed. In the most intensive attempt so far to derive an answer to this question, Yerkes, at the Murphy site in Ohio, was able to conclude only that blades were used for a variety of tasks, just like bifaces or retouched flakes. My own research sheds light on this problem, at least in the lower Illinois Valley of Illinois. I have applied intensive use-wear analyses to three Middle Woodland components: the Smiling Dan settlement and two different kinds of ceremonial manifestations from the Napoleon Hollow site. Bladelets were used very differently in these three situations. At the habitation they were relatively unimportant and were used for a variety of tasks, just as at the Murphy site. But in mortuary contexts they were numerically very significant and were employed for a restricted range of tasks--primarily for cutting and scraping soft materials. This conclusion suggests that the blade was an integral part of Hopewell ceremonialism., In the arena of North American prehistoric stone tools, a true prismatic-blade industry is a relatively unique phenomenon. Blade industries with antecendents in Asia and the Japanese archipelago (Andrefsky 1987; [...]

Ethnographic examples of stone-tool makers in Australia and archaeological examples from three different areas in the western United States indicate that the availability of lithic raw materials is an important variable conditioning stone-tool production technology. Attributes of availability such as abundance and quality of lithic raw materials condition the production of formal- vs. informal-tool types. Poor-quality raw materials tend to be manufactured into informal-tool designs. High-quality lithic raw materials tend to be manufactured into formal tool designs when such materials occur in low abundance. When high-quality materials occur in great abundance both formal- and informal-tool designs are manufactured. Other factors, such as residential mobility or sedentism, are found to be less-important determinates of lithic-production technology., Recently archaeologists have become interested in the organization of lithic technology and how it relates to aspects of past human behavior. One of the major components in the study of [...]

High-quality cryptocrystalline silicates from the Oligocene-age White River Group of the central Great Plains (referred to here as White River Group Silicates |WRGS~) were widely used prehistorically for chipped-stone tools. There are three known source areas for WRGS: Flattop Butte in northeastern Colorado, Table Mountain in east-central Wyoming, and the White River Badlands of South Dakota. Specimens from these sources are often visually indistinguishable, making it difficult to specify the source of WRGS from nonquarry archaeological sites. Using a quantitative method--neutron-activation analysis--these sources were differentiated. The sources of WRGS in two Central Plains archaeological sites also were determined using this technique. The results show that the technique has important implications for studies of prehistoric mobility and for the refinement of cultural-historical affiliation., High-quality lithic materials from the Oligocene-age White River group in the central Great Plains were widely used in prehistoric times for the manufacture of chipped-stone tools. These materials are silicates--cherts […]

Antigua has substantially more preceramic sites than any other island in the Lesser Antilles. Archaic peoples made extensive use of the high-quality flint that is common on Antigua to produce industries dominated by unretouched flakes and blades. Analysis of the largest excavated Archaic assemblage from the island reveals that flaked-stone technology centered around the production of direct-percussion blades, and that the majority of other flake classes are by-products of blade production. The assemblage's five major morphological classes of blades appear to represent successive stages of core reduction., Sometime between the seventh and the fifth millenia B.C., groups of Archaic fisher-foragers moved northward from the continental island of Trinidad to colonize the oceanic archipelago of the West Indies […]

A new and handsome find, a decorated bone comb from Tell Abraq in the United Arab Emirates dated about 2100--2000 BC, provides another link between eastern Arabia and the distant [...]

The Klein site Clovis locality consists of lithic artifacts and mammoth and horse bone that have eroded from a small, low-relief gravel ridge disturbed by agricultural practices. The ridge is on the late Pleistocene Kersey terrace of the South Platte River and is part of a ridge-swale landscape produced by the river as it flowed in a braided pattern across an aggrading floodplain. Two soil types, Ustoll and Aquoll, have formed in the fine-grained sediments that mantle the ridges and swales, respectively. Investigations at the Klein site and others on the Kersey terrace suggest that Paleoindian materials may be found in association with either soil.

Six broken and refitted carved stone pipes or tubes were recovered at the Coal Draw site (48HO469) in the southern Bighorn Basin in north-central Wyoming. In addition there were an unbroken tube and pieces of five others. Several different types of carvable stone are represented, many of which are not found locally. These items may or may not be associated with a large Dinwoody style petroglyph panel nearby. They may also have been burial offerings, since a human skull fragment and a probable human molar were found in the immediate area. Ritual breakage of most of the items is suggested. It is also suggested that this occurred while the items were in containers such as pipe bags, and that they were not removed afterward.

A review of the major biface production studies in North American archaeology documents a remarkable renaissance during the past 20 years. Three things contributed to this growth in interest in stone tool manufacture: ideas were borrowed from European Paleolithic studies, stone tool replication became an accepted activity for professional archaeologists, and the spread of New Archaeology created a demand for the behavioral data revealed in production trajectory models. Of these, the general acceptance of the processual paradigm appears to have been the major factor in the popularity that biface studies and lithic analysis in general enjoy today.

As the archaeological study of use-wear analysis matures, its contributions to the reconstruction of prehistoric economic activities, subsistence strategies and lifeways becomes more significant. The present study was initiated to provide an analysis of the lithic use-wear features diagnostic of bison hide processing. The present study entails 1) an ethnographic overview of the Plains Indian bison hide processing technologies; 2) a comparison of the tools ethnographically associated with bison hide processing to artifacts from the Plains archaeological record; 3) an experimental application of Plains hide processing technology using replicated prehistoric tools; and 4) a comparison of the use-wear on the experimental endscrapers to the use-wear described by other experimental studies.

Paleolithic sites in Italy provide evidence that land use may explain the variation in tool use instead of conscious planning. Planning for tool use would show mental evolution of the hominids such as Neanderthals. Tools could have been carried in anticipation of short supplies while foraging instead of planning for specific occupations. However, such land use does not negate the possibility of planning but rather raises the possibility of planning for foraging instead of tool use.

For want of other secure evidence, the study of art in prehistoric societies normally amounts to looking at pictures, though there must have also been sound, and surely music. The long lithic tradition of central northern Australia permits a rare insight into another kind of prehistoric art, the meaning and aesthetic order that may lie behind a lithic industry.

Widespread exchange networks operative in the early historic period in the southern Plains and adjacent areas were documented by early Spanish explorers. Among the more important trade items they noted were bison hides, including robes. It is suggested here that the occurrence of beveled knives and endscrapers in assemblages dating after about A.D. 1300 reflects the importance of bison hides in late prehistoric exhange. Both of these chipped-stone tools probably were used in acquiring and processing the hides of bison. The importance of bison hides continued into the historic period when they were documented items of exchange in southern Plains and adjacent areas.